


The Hunt

by bob2ff



Series: Miracles Hijinks [8]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Gen, Humor, Implied Relationships, M/M, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-12
Updated: 2014-04-27
Packaged: 2018-01-19 02:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1451908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bob2ff/pseuds/bob2ff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bounty Hunter Tribal AU where Tokyo is a monarchical medieval city and beyond its borders lies a lawless land organized into tribes. The high schools are bounty hunter tribes, and everybody wants the bounty on each other.</p><p>Ch. 5 up: Intermission — The Hunt, for the Past. Childhood backstories: Aomine and Momoi, the Hunt for Adventure. Kise, the Hunt for Acknowledgement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Takao sighed contentedly after his particularly loud rendition of his favourite song. “Man, singing out here in the open makes me feel so glad to be alive, here, with you guys,” he smiled, widely.

“Shut up and focus, Takao,” Midorima said, peering through his binoculars. The wasteland that was the desert landscape outside of Tokyo was as barren as ever. Seemed like everything was clear, for now. His lucky item lay safely at his feet. He would have to consult his fortune again later that day.

Takao pouted, although his eyes danced mischieviously. “I’m just appreciating music! Aren’t you always telling me to be more cultured, Shin-chan?” he teased.

Ootsubo rapped him on the head. “Stop distracting Midorima. We need to be the first to move if we want to collect the bounty on this one. Kaijou is already starting to catch up on us,” he said.

Takao straightened and continued his surveyance of the landscape, eyes sharpening and focusing. He started humming as he watched.

“Maybe we should have a theme song for our tribe,” he suggested, winking at Miyaji.

Miyaji just whacked him upside the head. “Who do you think we are, one of those traveling entertainment troupes? We have a job to do here.”

Takao barely had enough time to shout “Shin-chan—” when arrows appeared in _thin air_ , piercing straight where Midorima’s face had been. Dust clouds suddenly swooped in, hiding all visibility.

Ootsubo yelled, “Quick, into formation!” Miyaji and Kimura immediately got into position, but Takao ignored the order, frantically looking for Midorima. _Shin-chan, where are you?_

***

Despite the liveliness of the impromptu party happening outside his tent, the music from the visiting troupe was lulling Aomine to a peaceful sleep. He was dreaming wonderfully about being in the entertainment district of Tokyo, hanging out with those girls he heard danced for a living (girls who actually weren’t being paid to entertain, then assassinate), when Momoi’s voice pierced through his sleep. He should have been used to it by now after almost 20 years, but he never was.

“Dai-chan! Imayoshi-senpai is calling a meeting now,” Momoi said. Her face anxiously hovered over his, pretty and delicate. Aomine knew better. Growing up with her, just the two of them against the entire cutthroat population of Tokyo and beyond, killing to gain bounty for a living — it tended to destroy any delusions of innocence.

“Ugh, tell that bastard I’m busy,” he groaned, turning on his side. He tried to let the music soothe him back to sleep. She poked him, hard in the ribs, where she _knew_ he hated.

“Come on! He probably wants to talk about how Touou is slipping in this month’s bounty rankings again,” she chided. Throwing his sheath and dual broadswords towards him, she stood there, arms crossed, glaring at him until he got up.

As they left the tent, she mentioned, as nonchalantly as possible, "Ki-chan's tribe Kaijou pulled ahead of us again." Aomine stiffened. Then he scoffed, "So what? We'll be ahead again after our next scouting trip."

She sighed. Dai-chan was always touchy about their old Teikou academy classmates. That's not to say she wasn't, either. Tetsu-kun...they still had no idea which tribe he had ended up in. As always, Dai-chan's former shadow had eluded any calls for a bounty on his head. There was practically no information on him out there — it was as though he had vanished into the shadows he was so adept in.

Aomine tapped her shoulder. His hand hovered there, always keeping her within touching distance. "You'll stay behind from scouting and do data analysis again today?" he asked, deliberately indifferent as he avoided her gaze.

Momoi inwardly rolled her eyes. Again with his 'its too dangerous out there, Satsuki' attitude. Dai-chan always seemed to forget she had already killed more and collected more bounty than him.

Then again, she was the same way towards him. Since young, they had always lingered around each other, somehow finding comfort and protection from each other's presence. It had to be because they had grown up with only each other most of their lives.

Now if only they could earn enough from bounty-hunting to actually get out of this crappy business.

***

"How do you find it so far?" Hyuuga asked, fake smile plastered on his face. He hated having to impress new recruits. Especially damn _foreigners_. Well, technically Kagami wasn't a foreigner, although he damn well behaved like one.

"What's that noise?" Kagami asked, frowning. It sounded like two cats had decided to have a yowling contest to see who could yowl louder, and shriller, than the other.

"That's just Koganei singing in the shower," Riko explained, smiling more naturally than Hyuuga. “Seirin has great facilities, despite being set up all the way out here!”

A large hand descended on Kagami’s shoulder as Kiyoshi hovered his smiling face too-near to his. “Welcome! Don’t worry, I can show you where to find better music than Koga’s singing!” he laughed loudly to himself as they stared at him. He pulled out a harmonica, and played a little tune.

Then he winked and elbowed Kagami. “I’ll also show you where you can have the _most fun_! Do you like card games, like hanafuda?”

Kagami just stared. Then he said bluntly, "You guys are weird." Hyuuga resisted the urge to face palm. Another tactless loudmouth to add to his tribe.

Kagami suddenly let out a high-pitched shriek as a freaking _arrow_ whizzed past his face.

“I’m sorry,” Kuroko said. “I was practicing my archery.” Kagami gaped. This guy had come out of _nowhere_. Riko stomped up to him and whacked him upside the head. “Kuroko-kun! I _told_ you, no shooting indoors! Practice your dagger-work instead!”

Kuroko turned to Kagami. “We’re aiming for the top ranking by the end of the year. The winning tribe gets enough gold from the emperor for a lifetime.” He paused. “Among other things.” Kagami could tell he probably cared more for the other things than just gold.

Then Kuroko levelled a gaze at Kagami. “I hope you can keep up with us,” he said.

Kagami stiffened. Was that a challenge? He tried to stare him down, but Kuroko was weirdly intimidating, even from his shorter height. “I hope _you_ _guys_ can keep up with _me_ ,” he said.

Hyuuga broke the tension, slamming them both on the heads. “What the hell are you guys having a pissing contest for? We’re on the same tribe, idiots.”

But then he turned to Kagami. “Kuroko’s right. We’re serious about getting to the top. Are _you_?”

Kagami was slightly taken aback by the steely determination in Hyuuga’s eyes. But he straightened. “I wouldn’t join you if you weren’t,” he stared resolutely at all of them.

***

Midorima was _pissed_. He had just bent down to pick up his lucky item (a satchel of tea leaves) when the arrows shot right where his head would have been if he had not bent down. Of course, the ensuing chaos had knocked the satchel right out of his hands, and it was impossible to find it in the dust enveloping their post.   

Those tea leaves had been _expensive_. Midorima had needed to consult three different merchants before one of them even _stocked_ the kind his fortune specified. Someone was going to pay. With an expert flick of his wrist, Midorima had four throwing knives in his left hand. His fingers were still wrapped — that wasn’t ideal but it would do.

As Midorima crouched and narrowed his eyes, trying to search for a target, Takao barrelled into him. “Shin-chan! You’re alright!” he said, clutching at him. His eyes were not in their typically focused intensity — they were wild and desperate. He had really thought something had happened to Midorima.

Midorima grabbed him and shook him to get him back to his senses. “Takao. Can you see anything we can hit?”

Instantly, Takao’s gaze cleared and sharpened. He peered through the dust. “I can’t see anything. But we can look at the wind — wherever its direction, you can bet our target is on the other end of it. They are the ones blowing this dust to us, after all.” Midorima was reminded that was why he stood Takao’s presence — he was useful for things like this.

Dimly, Midorima could hear Ootsubo, Kimura and Miyaji shouting for them to retreat. He growled. Not before he got some hits. As Takao pointed out a direction, he threw his knives in a swift arc. They flew beautifully as always, finding their destinations surely and certainly.

Later that day, Shuutoku packed the bodies on their cart.

“They weren’t our bounty, right? Who were they?” Miyaji asked, prodding one of them with the end of his dagger.

“Just typical bandits. They weren’t marked with a tribe symbol,” Ootsubo said.

Nearby, Midorima seethed as he cleaned his knives, precisely and deliberately as he did after every scouting trip. No bounty today, _and_ a lucky item destroyed. He would need to consult the fortune-teller again later. Maybe he would need to pay for leaf-reading in addition to palm-reading, this time.

Nearby, Takao started singing loudly to himself again. Shuutoku let him be. Music was how he handled the days out in the wasteland, at any rate. It helped them survive.


	2. Chapter 2

Akashi steepled his fingers and levelled a steady gaze at the official. The official gulped, as expected of the typical reaction Akashi’s unwavering stare tended to generate.

“Are you saying that the gold is weighed not according to the bounty’s weight, but according to your _own_ internal measurements?” he asked. Even though his voice was still immeasurably calm, the tension in the room ratcheted up, as if he had just shouted. This time, Hayama gulped on the official’s behalf.

“W-well, we never _explicitly_ stated that you would be paid the bounty’s weight in gold,” the official stammered.

“But it was made clear to us that we would be paid the gold according to what the bounty is worth,” Akashi responded, still in the pleasant, light-hearted tone he liked to use when explaining things to Hayama.

The official began to waver. “W-well…” As Nebuya closed the door and stood in front of it imposingly, Hayama already knew what the outcome was going to be, Akashi’s Emperor’s Eye or not.

“And Rakuzan is the top of the bounty ranks again this month,” Mibuchi said delightedly, as they left the government building. “As expected of Sei-chan!” he tittered, smiling sweetly at Akashi.

Akashi, however, had a slight frown on his face. “What are the other tribes’ standings again?” he asked.

Hayama started counting them off his fingers. “Well, Shuutoku’s closest. Kaijou and Touou are neck to neck, quickly catching up. They both just got a couple new recruits.” He smiled, a sharp edge to his excitement. “Fresh blood!”

Mibuchi added, “Yosen’s not bad too, although they don’t compete directly with us — they focus more on rewards for defense-type bodyguard jobs than actively seeking bounty.”

Akashi was thinking. “And Seirin?”

Nebuya laughed out loud. “They are up and coming, but not a threat. They’ve made no dent so far in the rankings. They barely recruit — nobody wants to join them!”

Akashi pondered, thinking otherwise. He wondered if it was time to gather a meeting of his old academy classmates. To remind them of their collective oath.

***

Three poisoned darts in a row, one after another. All on target. Hanamiya dusted his hands and smirked.

Hara popped his head into Hanamiya’s tent. “Our stash is depleting again. Time for another scouting trip?”

Hanamiya frowned. “What happened to the bounty on that last hunter we took in?”

Hara shrugged. “Ask Seto and Yamazaki — they probably spent it on sake and new weapons.” Hanamiya’s frown got uglier.

“Go and look at the rankings. Which tribe can we attack this time?” Why was he surrounded by so many incompetent idiots, Hanamiya wondered.

He had come up with an efficient plan to ensure Kirisaki Daichi’s survival. Instead of competing with the other tribes for the scant bounty that existed on targets like bandits, gangs and enemy soldiers, he hunted the _hunters_ — bounty hunters themselves fetched a fortune.

Of course, it was practically taboo practice. In the barren wasteland outside Tokyo, bounty hunters had little honour to be desired (they did kill for a living after all), but whatever honour they had, it was all for one code alone — you don’t collect on another hunter.

Hanamiya didn’t care, though. The lawless land beyond Tokyo the city was lawless for a reason. If bounty was there to be collected, he thought, a bounty was bounty, whether it was a hunter or not. The emperor certainly didn’t care about the code — the royal family cared about nothing but living their cushy lives within the city walls, anyway.

“Seirin,” Furuhashi came by, having been called by Hara. “They should be easy pickings — they’re barely on the rankings, anyway.”

Hanamiya’s calculating gaze swept across them. “Then what are you waiting for? Get your weapons and let’s move.”

***

“Oi, Kise! I told you, stick with the tribe!” Kasamatsu yelled. Kise jumped and immediately stopped laughing with the girls. He _liked_ city girls — there was no suspicion that one of them could be a paid killer behind their painted smiles.

“But senpai,” he whined. “We barely come back to Tokyo, and the city is so _interesting_!” Kasamatsu kicked him to relieve some frustration. The girls tittered, and he avoided their gaze, feeling the flush rise on the back of his neck.

Kise winked, the girls swooned. “Don’t be jealous senpai, there’s plenty of me to go around!” Kasamatsu felt his flush rise further, and kicked Kise again. The idiot was way too _pretty_ for bounty hunting, that’s for sure. If Kasamatsu had not seen what Kise could do with a wakizashi blade, he never would have believed he belonged in the utterly chaotic landscape beyond the city.

As it were, he was Kaijou’s Kise. Since he joined, Kaijou’s bounty rank had risen meteorically. Even though Kaijou had traditionally been one of the top bounty hunting tribes, Kasamatsu was not so sure he wanted to attract the attention of the more ruthless sharks at the top. ‘Kings’ like Shuutoku and ‘Emperors’ like Rakuzan, for example.  

He grabbed Kise by the collar and dragged him back to the bounty headquarters, where the rest of the tribe were busy poring over the latest bounty postings. ‘Administrative headquarters’ was too fancy a name for the centre of bounty hunter gatherings — after all, it was a riotous bar in the seedier part of the city, where street brawls were the norm.

“Chief, we’re almost at Shuutoku’s rank!” Hayakawa informed Kasamatsu excitedly, brandishing his shochu. A few grumpy hunters elbowed him pointedly as he accidentally splashed liquor on their faces.

Moriyama was almost as bad as Kise — he was showing off his bow and arrow to some cooing girls. Irritated, Kasamatsu dragged him over to where Hayakawa had gathered some potential bounty postings to collect.

“Break up den of thieves south of the city, 5 sacks of gold,” Kasamatsu read, and pondered. “Not worth the trip,” he decided, tossing it aside.

There was a scuffle at the door. Kasamatsu would have ignored it as one of the many daily tussles that happened in bounty hunter central if not for who was involved. A hunter taller and larger than he had ever seen, swinging his axe and narrowly missing his opponent’s head.

“Don’t touch my snacks!” he growled, clutching a bag of nuts to his chest. The unfortunate source of his anger would have fled if not for a huge shield he carried in his other hand, which blocked his path.

“Murasakibarachii~!” Kise sparkled towards him, ignoring the terrified hunter Murasakibara was looming over. “Nice seeing you in the city!”

Murasakibara blinked as he focused on Kise. “Oh, Kisechin...you’re here too?”

Just then, another pretty boy stepped in. He was wielding a katana. “Atsushi. Don’t make a scene. Do you want to affect Yosen’s good reputation?”

Kise sparkled at him, too. “Is Yosen looking for bounty postings this month as well?” His eyes sharpened as he looked at them. “You’re a little late — Kaijou’s already taken most of the good ones, I’m afraid.”

Himuro just smiled. “I think Yosen is doing alright on the bounty rankings for now, Kise-kun. We have no need to compete with you.” Kise’s eyes narrowed.

Kasamatsu stepped in between them, sensing the rising tension. “Where’s Okamura?” he asked Himuro. “I thought you guys were still on that defense job with the emperor’s advisor.”

Himuro turned to him. “That job was easier done than anticipated. Of course, Yosen’s reputation precedes it, so it makes sense that no one would try anything knowing we were around.” Or knowing that Murasakibara was around, that went unmentioned. The Shield of Aegis was not a name easily given to any one tribe, but Yosen deserved it, as fully and thoroughly as they crushed their enemies.

Kasamatsu gathered Kaijou and left the bar feeling slightly disorientated. He always felt that way whenever he bumped into any of Kise’s old Teikou academy classmates. It wasn’t as if he was _intimidated_ — Generation of Miracles or not, they were still a bunch of brats.

It was just something to bump into even _one_ of them; bounty hunters so skilled they could kill within seconds. Watching Kise work alone was already _something_ — halfway between beautiful form and deadly, ruthless efficiency. Kasamatsu could not imagine how training at the academy must have been, the five (or was it six? Kasamatsu was never sure) of them working together.

Kise stopped abruptly as a hawk suddenly flew onto his shoulder. Hayakawa bumped into him, and Moriyama bumped into Hayakawa. “Kasamatsu-senpai,” Kise said, sounding uncharacteristically serious as he read the message attached to the hawk, “I’ll need to go for a while. Just to the other side of the city.”

Kasamatsu frowned. They were just about due for another scouting trip. “There’d better be a good reason why you’re ditching us right before our next bounty hunt.”

Kise looked straight at him, and Kasamatsu saw it again — the flash of the Miracles in his sharp eyes. “There is. Akashichii has summoned us.”


	3. The Hunt, for Certainty

**_Present Day_ **

Riko gritted her teeth as she surveyed the bounty rankings for the month. Seirin’s position was disappointing, and frustrating. Being near the bottom wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because it meant they escaped the attentions of the larger, more threatening tribes. However, even with the code, they could never guarantee that smaller bounty hunter tribes wouldn't be targets for the larger ones. It was the nature of the lawless land. The nature of market forces, where weaker players were weeded out by stronger ones.

The fact that they were small fry also meant they were almost always left out of the better pickings on bounty postings every month. This month alone, Seirin had only managed to earn two bounties successfully. It was miserable in comparison to Shuutoku's average of 8 per month, or Rakuzan's 10 per month.

In times like this, Riko doubted her ability to train a bounty hunter tribe successfully. She had grown up watching her father discipline and train huge hunters who could have used her as leverage against Aida Kagetora, if not for the fact they were _terrified_ of him. Of course, it helped that Riko herself was well versed in how physiology worked, and could poison them with her eyes closed.

"Riko. Mitobe's got dinner ready," Hyuuga popped his head into her tent. Riko couldn’t help herself. To relieve her stress, she threw a crumpled parchment at Hyuuga’s oblivious face. It bounced off his thoroughly confused expression.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Hyuuga-kun. Why did you ask me to train Seirin?” she asked him. Hyuuga sensed instinctively that he had to think _very carefully_ about his answer.

“You’re the best in the business,” he said, slowly and consideringly. She sighed. “I’m a woman in a world where women are more commonly employed as deadly courtesans than regarded as actual hunters, and bounty hunter trainers are killed the moment their proteges get stronger than them.”

She dropped her head, slamming her forehead on the table. “Seirin is struggling to remain on the rankings, and it’s because of me. You guys can go so much further on your own if you were to join some other tribe like Shuutoku or Kaijou. At least they have professional trainers, not some girl who decided to become a trainer after going on a self-initiated Quest.”

Riko still had nightmares from her Quest. She hadn’t even _needed_ to go on one, because she hadn’t been trained at an academy that required it, but she had decided to shortly after she felt she had learnt everything she needed to know watching her father.

The Quest was a rite of passage the best hunters in the business went on. A solo voyage into the lawless lands, it was meant for hunters to discover which tribe they belonged to, or which part of the business they wanted to be in. Some hunter academies, like Teikou, were famous for forcing their graduates on ruthlessly lengthy, three-year quests. The death rate on those those Quests were higher than Teikou’s graduation rate.

Hyuuga looked incredulous. “That’s ridiculous! Why are you even doubting your abilities? We started Seirin to be a tribe different from the others, to counter to all the ridiculous shit that has been happening on this land. We _need_ you to help us get there.”

Before Riko could respond, Kuroko popped his head in. “Sensei, and Chief, I apologize for the disruption.” he addressed the both of them, polite as always. “I would like to request two weeks off. I need to go to the city,” he said.

Hyuuga made to bonk him on the head for his gall of ditching them right when they were already struggling to make the rankings, but he stopped when he looked at Riko. She was frowning, thinking. “Is there something you need to do there?”

“My old Chief wants to meet with his old tribe-mates from Teikou Academy,” Kuroko said.

“Akashi Seijurou?” Riko raised her eyebrows. “You guys graduated 5 years ago. What does he need to see you for?”

“I am not sure,” Kuroko said carefully, but Riko could tell he was not saying the whole extent of what he _did_ know. “But Akashi-kun is not used to people not coming when he summons them. And I think it would be better not to get Rakuzan angry just yet.” He smiled. “At least until we’ve beaten them at the rankings.”

“Akashi is a spoilt brat,” Hyuuga muttered. Then he sighed. “I guess Seirin’ll have to make an impromptu trip to the city. We do still have some bounty to hunt, but it can wait for a few weeks.”

He slammed Kuroko on the shoulder. “I think we need to make a trip to the smiths to check our weapons, anyway, so it works out.”

Kuroko looked surprised. “You don’t have to come with me.”

Riko whacked him on the head. “Of course we’re coming! Who do you think you are, one of those solo mercenaries? You’re a Seirin bounty hunter.”

Hyuuga mussed Kuroko’s hair. “You’re a part of our tribe. And Seirin sticks together.”

Riko smiled next to him. Times like this, she felt her doubts melt away. Seirin was where she belonged, after all. It was where she felt she could put all her efforts in, with no regrets, because she could be sure everyone else was doing the same.

***

**_Teikou era_ **

Kuroko panted heavily, staring disappointedly at yet another row of target boards littered with arrows that either never reached their target or missed them completely. He felt more than ever that he didn’t belong here, in this academy which trained people to kill for a living. In this academy that had produced hunters for the strongest tribes in the land.

He had no choice, though. There was no other way he could have survived. He had gotten this far on the luck of people always overlooking him, looking at him but not really _seeing_ him. He survived on filched scraps of food people generally overlooked. Of course it helped that he had exceedingly stealthy hands.

But Kuroko knew he could not survive forever on stolen food. So he had joined the only profession that allowed anyone from any background to join without having to pay anything. He decided to become a bounty hunter.

Kuroko hated violence. In some ways, becoming a bounty hunter felt like the worst option he could have relegated himself to. What he wanted was far more important than his queasiness, however. He wanted adventure, and he wanted freedom. And in the end, all he wanted was a peaceful life.

He had fallen in with the Miracles entirely unintentionally. He had heard of them, of course — the youngest students at mere 14-15 years old at an academy mostly populated with adults, yet deadliest and most skillful. Whispers abounded about them — did you hear, they were abandoned by their families, or chose to leave on their own. Or — did you know, they stuck together because they were going to form their own bounty hunter tribe after graduating, instead of joining pre-existing ones. All rumours that were never verified.

It had first started when he could not help swiping Aomine’s spare arrows for additional practice in archery. Kuroko _had_ to — he was falling behind everybody in the academy, in everything, _especially_ archery.

Aomine wasn’t using them, anyway. He was obsessed with the dual broadswords, and barely spared a glance at them. So it was a while before he even noticed they had been disappearing.

When he did, however…”I think a _ghost_ is taking my stuff!” he exclaimed incredulously.

He continued, “My arrows keep disappearing!”, to Midorima’s disdainful sniff, Murasakibara’s indifferent meal consumption, Momoi’s usual ignorance of whenever Dai-chan said something stupid, and Akashi’s impassive stare.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Aomine,” Midorima said loftily, from where he was studiously scrutinizing the tea leaves at the bottom of his cup for any indication of his fortune.

“ _I’m serious_!” Aomine said, getting animated and waving his hands around. He nearly knocked Momoi’s drink onto her lap, and that was when she finally reacted, whacking him upside the head. A collective sense of gratitude resonated around the table as she hit him, on behalf of everyone there.

“Aomine-kun,” Akashi slipped himself in amid the tussle that ensued as Aomine retaliated by eating from her plate. “Take better care of your things. Then maybe you won’t get outsmarted by a mere thief.”

Aomine began to protest, then Midorima added, “Yes — you’re too fixated on swords, anyway. Aim and precision ensures more certain success than disorganized brawling.”

 _Just_ because the prick Midorima had said that, Aomine decided do the exact opposite. He decided to leave his arrows out in welcome to whoever had been stealing them. _Then_ they would see, it really was a ghost! Or something ghost- _like_ , at any rate.

He dragged Momoi into his plan. “Dai-chan — even if it _is_ a ghost, what makes you think I would _want_ to see it?” Momoi whispered exasperatedly as they crouched uncomfortably in his closet. Elbowing him for more space, she disgustedly stepped daintily away from a weirdly discoloured _something_ on the corner. His arrows were laid out nice and neat (which were in better condition than they ever were usually, which would actually be suspicious in itself) on his bed.

“Shut up, Satsuki,” Aomine whispered back, elbowing her back. “He’s going to show up soon. You just focus on figuring out how to exorcise a ghost. _I’ll_ handle him.” Momoi rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, Aomine yelled out a warcry and tackled Kuroko as he snuck into the room. “Quick Satsuki! I’ve got him! Throw whatever weird shit Midorima gave us for warding off bad spirits on him!” he yelled.

“Dai-chan, _let him go_! It’s _not_ a ghost, he’s a hunter!” Momoi shrieked. Suddenly, Aomine yowled, and let Kuroko go as he jabbed him on the ribs.

“I apologize. I am the one who has been taking your arrows,” Kuroko said, shuffling uncomfortably. Aomine stared at him, as though unsure whether to get mad or not. Then he laughed out loud, making Momoi and Kuroko jump.

“No problem! _I’m_ just glad you’re _not_ a ghost,” he said, smiling widely and patting Kuroko on the back. Kuroko smiled, a small curve of his lips.

Aomine started rattling off questions to him, all at once. It seemed that the experience of being terrified out of his wits of a standoff with a potential ghost had made him more exuberant than usual. Kuroko answered with a seriousness and consideration Momoi found different in a lot of boys. He treated them like he actually _cared_ to get to know them, unlike most hunters in the academy, who acted with mostly pragmatic ruthlessness.

Aomine had just decided that Kuroko was “Tetsu” and he would be hanging out with him, because “anybody who likes adventure tales about swordfights _has_ to be good!” when Kuroko gave that small, sort-of smile again. Momoi suddenly felt shy. She was fascinated with him, despite herself.

From then on, Aomine hung out with Kuroko. He was a bad influence on him.

“I would give you all my arrows to practice archery with, seriously, Tetsu,” he told Kuroko solemnly. “But it’s so _boring_. Practice sword-fighting with me instead! We can enact the awesome one from _Samurai Fight Nights_.” So Kuroko stopped bothering to practice archery. He got better with a dagger, though.

Akashi noticed, eventually. Was there ever any doubt that he wouldn’t? Aomine could not say he had been surprised when Akashi dropped by, Midorima and Murasakibara on tow, as he and Tetsu were trying to rush their archery practice quota for the day as fast as possible so they could get back to swordfighting.

Aomine was far from lousy at archery, even if he thought it _sucked_. He was idly shooting arrows at the targets, hitting every one every time, as Akashi approached Kuroko. “I’m pleased to meet the ghost who has been stealing from Aomine-kun,” he said, a slight smile on his lips.

Kuroko looked slightly abashed, but smiled back. “It was easier than you give me credit for. Aomine-kun is not a particularly hard target to steal from,” he responded. They both ignored Aomine’s “Hey!”

Akashi swept a long, measured gaze at Kuroko. “Kuroko-kun,” he said. “I think you would be a useful addition to our team for the final exams.”

Kuroko started in surprise. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Akashi-kun. I can’t really do anything here that well. Except perhaps daggerwork, but even in that I’m merely above average.”

Akashi considered at him with such certainty that despite himself, Kuroko felt his doubts melt away. Akashi had that effect, that feeling that he was absolute, and if he believed in you, you could do anything. “I am sure you can figure out a way to use your natural lack of presence and come up with a specialized fighting style. One that may not necessarily require conventional weaponry, strength or power.”  

They left Aomine and Kuroko reenacting yet another sword fight (this one from _Ronin Battle Tales_ ), bows and arrows lying abandoned by the side.

Midorima walked next to Akashi. “Do you really believe he could be useful during the final exams? He could very easily become a liability in a melee-style tournament with no rules.”

What he did not say about Teikou’s tournament-style final exam was that there _was_ one rule: in order to incentivize students to get as many hits as possible, students only passed if they had a hit count at the top 10 percent. It was a deadly relative grading, where students could only ensure their success by hitting as many as possible.

Akashi just looked straight ahead, certain and absolute as always. “I have no doubts about Kuroko-kun’s natural stealth and ability to misdirect opponents. What remains to be seen is whether he can turn it into something deadly, and worthy of being part of us.”

Akashi was feeling certain that he had finally found the final piece of his strategy to obliterate the Teikou final exams. He already had Midorima and his ruthlessly precise throwing knives that never missed. He had brute strength with absolute defense, Murasakibara. He had the wild, unstoppable, offensive power of Aomine’s dual swords. By natural extension of Aomine, he also had Momoi, and her methodical knowledge on neutralizing opponents regardless of style. He had Haizaki, a merciless and sometimes amoral decimator of their opponents’ defensive power.

And now, in the no-holds-barred, every hunter against hunter tournament that was the Teikou final exams, he finally had a natural distractor. He had a stealth striker, a potential shadow assassin. He had Kuroko Tetsuya.


	4. Unravelling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things begin to fall apart.

**_Teikou era: Final Exams_ **

Midorima was at a loss. Somehow, he had lost track of the rest of the Miracles. It had been in the midst of their escape when they had run into a bunch of old men, all specializing in a nasty kind of smoke.

All Midorima could remember was a searing, choking, sensation, his eyes tearing up and burning. Dimly hearing Aomine yelling, Akashi’s authoritative call to retreat. He had ran blindly towards a direction away from them.

Now he was staring at the eerily empty streets of Teikou’s makeshift city that was their final exam battlefield, wondering what he should do. He thought that this definitely had not factored into Akashi’s plan for the final exams.

At best, Midorima _tolerated_ the Miracles. Akashi was the only one he grudgingly respected, but that was at minimum what Akashi expected of them all. The Miracles were whispered as being a fully-formed tribe of their own, unheard of in a bounty hunter academy, but in actuality it was more a matter of pragmatism that they stuck together. Being a group of teens at Teikou, an academy mostly filled with desperate adults who had nothing left of their lives and so decided to kill for a living, you looked for allies wherever you could.

Midorima could care less about buddy-buddy things like tribe loyalty. He was at the bounty hunting academy because he was _destined_ to hunt. He was certain of it. At the tender age of 10, the local neighbourhood fortune teller he religiously visited had told him, “you need to discover who you are destined to be, on your own”. Midorima had interpreted it to mean, go on a Quest.

Having survived _that_ ordeal, he was not really worried about the prospect of going on another one after Teikou. Even if it _was_ going to be three years this time.

His parents at the apothecary had been appalled. Of course they would have been — their oldest son, sheltered in relative comfort all his life, was going on a life-threatening solo voyage at such a precocious age. They had begged him not to go, that the fortune teller had been wrong, that Midorima was _too young_. But Midorima had always been stubborn. So he went anyway.

The woman’s hair had been white and dank, framing her haggard, hollowed face. She wore an ancient kimono, with designs on it Midorima had never seen before from his childhood in Tokyo. If Midorima had been any other 10-year-old boy, he would have run away screaming. As it were, she was only the third in a long list of famous fortune-tellers of lore he planned to visit on his Quest. She beckoned him to come closer. Midorima unblinkingly gripped the kitchen knife (swiped from home as his only weapon on the Quest) in the folds of his clothes and stepped closer.

She entered into a trance the moment he took a step towards her. Speaking in a cracked voice, she spoke of hunting. Of weaponry, and of an aim that never missed. And she had pointed to Midorima as she said it. And she became only one of the numerous fortune tellers that later told him things around the same nature. Whether through reading bones, or tarot cards, or dancing, oddly-coloured flames, they spoke of the same fortune. Hunting, and the dedicated pursuit of unrelenting precision, and unwavering aim.

Midorima had come out of his Quest, he believed, a much more spiritual person. And he strongly believed that becoming a hunter was his destiny. No less than eight fortunes had predicted it. It was what he was meant to be, what he could be ensured success in.

Midorima was jerked out of his ponderings by a scream. It sounded quite distant, but he palmed a throwing knife at the ready, just in case. His fingers were unwrapped, as they had been ever since they started the Final Exams that morning. He grimaced at the oranging sky as the sun started to dip in the sky.

The Miracles may annoy him more than anything else, but now he felt the onset of dread. He _needed_ them, despite himself (and if you were to really, really ask him, he might even say they were _adequate,_ passably _entertaining_ companions). And in his situation now, if he could not regroup with the Miracles by sundown it was going to be _bad_.  

***

Kise tried his best to avoid Akashichii, glowering in the corner, as he concentrated on collecting firewood for the night. Even Aominechii, who was normally oblivious to the atmosphere, was pointedly sitting away from their seething Chief, cleaning and sharpening his broadswords with attentive, loving care.

Kurokochii is so brave, Kise thought, watching fearfully as Kuroko approached Akashichii. “Akashi-kun. I’m sure Midorima-kun would be able to find us.”

Akashi was balling his fists as he stared hard at the ground, thinking. “He _has_ to. Midorima-kun is essential to our strategy. We have to win together or we all fail the exams.”

To Akashi, the Final Exams would have been simple — as long as the Miracles stuck together. There were the first rounds of the tournament, one-on-ones, in which he expected every single one of them to pass without a hitch. That was why he had chosen them, after all — they were strong individually, and unstoppable together.

The second rounds would have been trickier, because it entailed pairing people randomly to go through an obstacle course built to turn the partners against one another.

Since this was Teikou, Akashi could be certain that the distinctly non-buddy-buddy culture would ensure each of their so-called partners would betray them, eventually. At Teikou, double-crossing was an utmost certainty — they even had a class on it, for prospective hunters interested in espionage.

He had been slightly worried when Kuroko had been paired up with a woman. He had a tendency to be too gentlemanly to his own peril, and Akashi knew Kuroko lacked the fundamental violent pragmatism required in the bounty hunter world. Every one in the Miracles had it in some sense — but Kuroko loved peace too much.

Akashi had paid careful attention when it was Kuroko and his partner’s turn to go through the course. The woman had tried doublecross him, but Kuroko exceeded Akashi’s expectations — not only did he anticipate her betrayal, he abandoned her to die at the hands of another pair of hunters. As Akashi watched Kuroko’s face, he had been proud of him. Kuroko had barely displayed any emotion as he watched her die, except for a slight tremble in his hands.  

Akashi already expected the final rounds of the exams to be the most difficult. Momoi and him had gone through hundreds of possible permutations, tweaking variables here and there, of different situations that could arise, but there were too many to predict accurately. In a no-rules melee tournament where hunters were incentivized to hit (and kill) anyone on sight in order to get a hit count high enough to be in the top 10 percent to pass, it was impossible to forecast what could arise.

However, in all accounts they had predicted certain success if the Miracles stuck together. Momoi had checked her data three times. And now Midorima was missing.

“I want more snacks, Aka-chin,” Murasakibara moaned. He grappled around for nuts, but could not find any. “I’m hungry.”

“Me too,” Aomine said, getting up. “Let’s go look for food, Tetsu!”

“No,” Akashi said sharply. “Everybody stays here. We’re not losing yet another one of our tribe.”

Aomine stiffened. “We’re _not_ a tribe. We’re a bunch of trainee hunters who _you_ decided should hang out together in the academy, out of convenience. All we’ve done so far is what _you’ve_ told us to do. And now Midorima the idiot’s gotten separated from us. How has your beautiful plan worked out _now_?” he said, disdainfully.

Kise squirmed — the atmosphere suddenly got heavy and tense. Momoi gasped. “Dai-chan!” she chided. He ignored her, still staring at Akashi.

“We can move so much faster if we split into smaller groups of two or three,” Aomine continued.

Akashi looked as though he was frozen. Finally he spoke, quietly, but in the tense silence his words rang out. “Are you saying you would do better on your own, Aomine-kun?”

Aomine looked stubborn. “I’m not saying that. I’m just saying we need to rethink our strategy. We can’t move all together like this all the time, it’s inefficient.”

Momoi grabbed his arm. “Dai-chan, this is just a temporary setback. We need to stay together. Midorin will be able to find us!”

Aomine shook her arm away. “Whatever — I’m going to go and look for firewood elsewhere.” He stomped off.

In the silence that ensued, everyone deliberately tried not to look at Akashi. Then Kuroko got up, heading towards Aomine’s direction with a quiet, “I’ll be right back.”

Privately, Kise wished he could _get_ Aominechii the way Kurokochii did — _he_ could never have been the one to bring Aominechii back. It had to be Kurokochii.

Momoi tentatively smiled at Akashi. At that moment, Kise marveled at her bravery, and faith. “Tetsu-kun will be able to talk sense into him, Akashi-kun. Don’t worry! We can still pass the exams all together.”

Akashi wasn’t so sure, however. He had a bad feeling about Aomine’s newfound doubts about the Miracles’ alliance. He had an ominous sensation that it would not bode well for any of them there.

***

**_Present Day_ **

Kiyoshi could barely keep in his excitement as they finally entered the city. The journey had been long, and arduous. Even finally getting Kagami to play hanafuda with him had not alleviated all the boredom.

Of course, it did not help that Kagami had thrown his hanafuda cards into the river out of frustration after losing one too many times. Ah well, he had promised to get Kiyoshi a new set of cards when they reached the city. Kiyoshi was excited just thinking about the assorted designs to choose from.

He patted Hyuuga on the back. “Doesn’t it feel nice to be coming home after spending months in the desert, Hyuuga?”

Hyuuga just gazed disgruntledly at the city. “Not when you have to contend with noisy parents telling you to stay home every time you visit.”

His barber father was always nagging at him to take over the family business. Not that Hyuuga wasn’t grateful — all those hours cutting customers’ hair had made him particularly skillful with a dagger. Hyuuga’s favourite weapons were anything requiring him to aim and shoot, though — be it shuriken, kunai or bow and arrow.

Kiyoshi just smiled wider. “I’ll have to make a trip to visit my grandparents, too. Don’t miss me too much.”

Hyuuga rolled his eyes. “It’s just a few days. Just make sure to be at the smiths the day we promised.”

Kiyoshi could not wait to see his grandparents again. It had broken both their hearts when he had decided to become a professional bodyguard. He had assured them as best as he could that it was a stable, well-paying job, while not having the deadliness of a hunter’s lifestyle. But they still worried. Bodyguards mostly travelled with bounty hunter tribes, after all. It was only a difference in the types of missions they took — both involved killing in some way, but for different reasons.

Kiyoshi approached Kagami and Kuroko. “Both of you have no one to visit here, right? You should come with me for tea! My grandparents would love the extra company.” He felt particularly protective of the two youngest members of Seirin.

Kagami looked slightly scared. “Er — we won’t be playing hanafuda, right?” Kiyoshi laughed out loud. “No, don’t worry!” Kagami sighed in relief.

Kiyoshi winked. “We’ll be playing richi mahjong instead.” Kagami hung his head resignedly.

Kuroko smiled his small smile. “I will have to leave by the evening to meet my old tribe-mates, but thank you for the tea until then.”

Kiyoshi tried to get them to sing a folk song while they walked the narrow streets to his grandparents’ house. It was by no means the best part of the city, but it was comfortable, clean and peaceful. There were food carts by the streets, selling delicious-smelling snacks like takoyaki and yakitori.

Kagami was busy fumbling over the song lyrics right when they stepped into a sticky, viscous rope-like substance that ensnared them.

Several darts flew towards them. Yelling, Kagami pulled out his katana and started defending himself. There were too many, and the ropes restricted their movements significantly. As more darts came, Kiyoshi lunged to cover both Kagami and Kuroko. He let out a pained yell as several darts embedded themselves, deep, into his leg.

The darts stopped as suddenly as they came. Hanamiya dropped from the roof. Four other men dropped behind him.

He approached them, the way a spider approached his prey, smiling. It was not a pleasant smile. “Hello, Seirin. May I introduce you to our tribe, Kirisaki Daichi?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Further unravelling of the Miracles — the beginning of Akashi's change, and the end of Aomine and Kuroko's partnership. Kiyoshi fights.


	5. Intermission: The Hunt, for the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Backstories: Childhood, an Intermission.
> 
> _Aomine & Momoi. The Hunt for Adventure._
> 
> _Kise. The Hunt for Acknowledgement._

**_Childhood: Aomine and Momoi._ The Hunt, _for Adventure._**

Aomine and Momoi crouched, waiting for yet another round of pies to come out of the baker’s into the merchant’s cart. Momoi hated coming to this part of the city — seedy, dirty and smelling of urine in every street. She felt unsafe here.

But here was where stealing was the norm, and people didn’t blink twice to see two lone kids scrounging for food. Here was where they could at least have a chance to survive, even if people killed each other in fights daily.

Aomine darted, lighting fast, and swiped an entire meat pie from the cart. The merchant did not even notice, too busy haggling with the baker to bring the price lower. Momoi had predicted that — she had told Dai-chan, after all, that this particular merchant, a stickler with prices and irrepressible bargainer, would be meeting at this street, at this time for his transaction. He was their best target to steal from, without getting caught.

They ran away, flushed with victory and the prospect of full stomachs tonight, when they slammed into a woman. The pie slipped out of Aomine’s hands and fell onto the her dress. She was beautiful, and smelled wonderful. Well, she  _had_  smelled wonderful — now she smelled like meat pie. Which was a wonderful smell in its own way.

She looked beautiful enough to be kind, but this was the bad part of the city. She shrieked and clutched at her dress, now well and truly ruined. Throwing a bone-chillingly deadly glance at them, she pulled out a machete from the folds of her dress. Aomine didn’t even know how a machete could have  _fit_  there.

He tried to hide Momoi as much as he could with his body, throwing his arms wide in front of her, screwing his eyes shut as he awaited death from the cold steel.

It never came. When he next opened his eyes, he saw the woman lying dead at his feet, machete useless in her stiff, cold fingers.

A man was standing over her, dagger held at the ready. “It’s always the most beautiful ones that kill you, in more ways than one, am I right kid?” he commented, smirking at them. Momoi shrunk behind Aomine.

“Who are you?” Aomine asked in a hushed voice. The man just chuckled and ruffled his hair. “Nobody important. I’m just a mercenary.” At Aomine’s puzzled expression, he chuckled again. “You heard of bounty hunters, kid? I’m one of them.”

Aomine brightened. But before he could ask any more questions, Momoi had enough. She grabbed him, whispered a quick “Thank you” to their saviour, and ran away, dragging him by the collar.

Aomine was more than a little irritated that she had taken away the opportunity for him to hear about “real life adventures” from a bounty hunter. But Momoi  _didn’t_  want to know more,  _didn’t_  want to hear about how people slit the throats of others for a living.

“I’m going to be a bounty hunter,” Aomine declared, with all the certainty and confidence a 9-year-old could possess. Momoi’s heart sank, clenched with fear and worry as she saw the stubbornness set into his face. Whatever Dai-chan set his mind to, he usually managed to succeed at it. Momoi knew he was always itching for adventure. But did he  _have_ to be a bounty hunter to seek it?

She inwardly thought that Dai-chan would be  _brilliant_  at being a hunter. He was naturally fast, and had instinctually amazing reflexes…but it would have broken Momoi’s heart to think that he  _could_ be a natural born killer.

She could  _never_  think about Dai-chan like that — her stupid, ridiculous childhood friend. He was gentle with animals (especially dogs), and  he cared about her, even if he  _always_  ate the best parts of the grilled mackerel given generously to them by the fishmonger every week (even after she had said it was  _hers_ ). He  _wasn’t, couldn’t_  be a killer.

But he  _longed_  for adventure, and somehow Momoi always knew  he would have inevitably been drawn to the allure of bounty hunting eventually.

Did Momoi really have any other choice? There really was never any doubt about it. She followed him, as she always certainly would, into whatever he chose to do. She followed him not because she had no other choice, but because  _she_  chose to. She followed him because she wanted, _needed_  to keep her childhood friend stupid and ridiculous. She needed to stop him from becoming too good of a killer, as she knew he  _just might_  become.

 ***

 **_Childhood: Kise._ ** **The Hunt, _for Acknowledgement_**

Kise was thirteen when he fell in love. Even now, in his early twenties, he is still unsure which he had been more enamoured with; the chase of trying to impress Aominechii, Aominechii _himself_ , or the challenge that intrinsically lay in a bounty hunter’s lifestyle. All of those he had fallen in love with because it kept the boredom away.

Kise was lucky to have grown up in an entertainment troupe, a travelling circus. A boy as pretty as he could have done a  _lot_  worse. The older performers in the circus used to scare him into behaving by telling him stories about children in the worser parts of the city. Kise knew for a fact that sometimes getting killed was a more merciful fate than ending up elsewhere. Like in that  _other_ entertainment industry, which was a lot less fanciful than a circus.

As it were, Kise had loved his childhood there, growing up with his sisters, all pretty and dainty. Sometimes just their painted faces on the posters would draw sold-out crowds, wherever they went.

Kise loved attention, but eventually he got bored.  And once he got bored, somehow the ennui never went away. His talent was mimicking others, uncannily so. In the circus, the audience would enjoy watching a lion-tamer make lions do tricks. Then they would go crazy watching Kise do the exact same thing, except with unrestrained lions,  _and_  he would make them do at least 5 other impromptu tricks. It was all too easy for him.

Thus, Kise began increasingly skipping his training sessions with his instructors, to explore the streets of the cities they visited. He kept a knife stolen from the circus knife thrower concealed in his sleeve — child-snatchers were everywhere, and Kise was skillful enough with the knife just from watching others that he was  _not_ going to get snatched.

Tokyo in particular was  _amazing_  — Kise watched with bright, shining eyes. For the first time, he wasn’t so  _bored_. He walked from the nice part of town, to the less nice, getting less and less bored as the surroundings got dingier, so different from what he was used to.  The houses got shantier as he passed, walls changing from plastered with brightly painted posters on shows to peeling walls covered with wanted posters. The smell changed from the rich smells of cooking meat and expensive scents, to the mingled stench of things you’d rather not know.  

“What, can’t take a  _kid_  who’s  _smaller_  than you?” a taunt rang out. Kise stopped, attracted to a throng of people surrounding a space on the streets.

Eyes widening, he saw a boy his age, with dark blue hair, dagger in hand, circling a much larger, older man holding a hammer. All around them, the crowd was chanting, growing wild, placing bets.  

The man roared and lunged at the boy. The boy  _moved_  — so quick and fast, Kise almost missed his movements. He darted between the man’s legs, and, leaping to grab his shoulder as leverage, flipped up, crouching on the man’s back. One hand was on the man’s hair to keep support, the other dagger was held at his throat. He did not even need to kill the man — every person there could tell he had the larger man at his mercy.

“Aomine wins again!” someone shouted, and the crowd groaned. Smirking, Aomine leapt down from the man’s back, grabbing the sack full of bets. “Thanks, old man!” he said, tapping his opponent on the back. The man only glared at him, full of loathing.

A pink-haired girl ran up to him. Smiling at him, she said self-importantly, “Didn’t I tell you, Dai-chan? Larger opponents are slower to respond if you attack from behind.”

The boy waved her off, but smiled widely. “All we need is a few more wins and we can earn enough to finally make the trip to Teikou!” The girl’s smile wavered a bit.

Kise could not hold in his excitement anymore. He bounded up to them, quivering excitedly. “That was  _amazing_!” he gushed. Aomine just blinked at him, mouth hanging open.

The girl had better manners — she smiled at him. “What’s your name?” she asked politely. “I’m Momoi Satsuki and this is my childhood friend Aomine Daiki.” Kise was not used to people not recognizing him from circus posters, but that only made him more excited.

“Kise Ryouta! But you can call me whatever you want,” he sparkled with the charm he used with adults to get what he wanted. “You  _gotta_  teach me how you fought like that!” he gushed to Aomine.

Aomine laughed, loud and exuberant. “I’m the  _best_  with swords and daggers! It’s super fun. Hey hey, you know bounty hunters? They do these cool stuff all the time! And,” he leaned towards Kise, eyes shining like he had the most amazing secret in the world, “They go on  _adventures_  too!”

Momoi chided him. “Dai-chan, don’t overwhelm Ki-chan like that!” She turned to him. “We’re planning to travel to Teikou academy and become bounty hunters! We’ve been participating in street brawls to make enough money to last the trip.”

She looked down, slightly shy. “I know Teikou’s just at the other end of Tokyo, but we need enough money for the tolls between the districts, so…” she trailed off.

Kise brightened. “I could get you guys through! I have this permit,” he said, showing them the permit all performers got to move between districts without having to pay a toll. They blinked at it, not having had any exposure to that kind of privileged entertainment in the poorer districts.

Then Aomine perked up. Throwing an arm around Kise, he yelled, “Yes! Kise’s our travel buddy now, Satsuki!” Kise melted at his acknowledgement. This boy was  _so cool_.

Momoi whacked Aomine on the head. “We can’t just randomly kidnap him and bring him with us! I’m sure Ki-chan has other commitments he needs to do.” Kise’s heart sank as he realized he was right. He couldn’t just up and go with them — he needed to convince his family at the circus that he wanted to do this.

Aomine wilted. Then he looked to Kise. “That’s okay. We’ll make our way there on our own, then. But,” he said, raising a fist to Kise. “We’ll definitely see you again eventually! I’ll teach you my  _coolest_  moves then!”

Kise bumped his fist, and smiled at them. “That’s a promise! I can show you some of my  _own_ tricks with a knife too.” Momoi smiled sweetly at him, and hugged him tight in farewell.

Kise watched them leave, Aomine’s arm slung around Momoi, chanting numbers with her as she counted their day’s earnings. He was struck by a sense of excitement he had not had for a long, long time. He had felt the ennui ebb away the moment he saw Aomine’s lightning quick movements, and a desire arise strongly to be like him, to match up to him, to  _impress_  him.

That was when he decided. He was going to enroll into Teikou. He knew wouldn’t be able to do so for another one or two years while he prepared to leave the circus. But after then he knew he make it there no matter what. He was going to chase after Aominechii, and make him acknowledge him. He knew then being a bounty hunter would be an adventure to last a lifetime.

**Author's Note:**

> Trying my hand at fantasy writing. This will primarily be non-chronological vignettes set in the universe, although there will be clear plotlines running throughout the story.


End file.
